Austin on Patriot for Ukraine: There is progress in negotiations with other countries
Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin announced progress in negotiations with other countries to provide Ukraine with Patriot air defense systems. At the same time, he did not name the countries that have expressed their readiness to provide Ukraine with their Patriot systems, saying that they should announce it themselves.
Austin said this at a press conference following a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Ukrinform reports, Censor.NET informs.
The Pentagon chief was asked about providing Ukraine with additional Patriot systems, and he replied that he had done everything possible to ensure that Kyiv received as many air defense capabilities as possible.
"You know, I spent a lot of time with other leaders, our senior leaders, spent a lot of time to do everything possible to make sure that Ukraine gets as much air defense capability as possible," the head of the US defense department said.
Austin added that this includes various types of weapons, including interceptor missiles and the platforms from which they are launched.
He also said that there is progress in negotiations with other countries to provide Ukraine with Patriot systems.
"We have made progress, and we will continue to do so very, very persistently," the Pentagon chief emphasized.
At the same time, the U.S. Secretary did not name the countries that have expressed their readiness to provide Ukraine with their Patriot systems, noting that they should announce it themselves. Austin also expressed his expectation of positive results in the implementation of this decision. He also added that these decisions were not easy for the countries that could provide Ukraine with additional Patriot systems.
As a reminder, on Thursday, June 14, after signing the security agreement with Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said that the US would transfer existing Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine on a priority order and only then proceed to fulfill its obligations to supply such systems to other customer countries.
